Paul Horne uploaded this rather sad video to YouTube yesterday. Michelle Shocked showed up at one of her cancelled gigs in an act of defiance or protest or something. Apparently she was communicating only via Etch A Sketch and no one could be bothered to stop and ask her questions or maybe people were just uncomfortable approaching somebody wearing a hazmat suit, a condom-like cap and black duct tape across her mouth.

Horne describes his video thusly:

Michelle Shocked continues to unravel, showing up to her cancelled show at Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz on March 28, 2013. Dressed in white, wearing a shirt that says “Gimme wit not spit” on the back and “Fun/Fag Palliance” on the front. She’s taped her mouth closed and is playing her guitar in the parking lot, to an audience of zero.

Here’s some of the back and forth between Michelle Shocked and her audience that took place during the second set at Yoshi’s club in San Francisco the night of her anti-gay tirade.

In a letter to the public released last night, Shocked said:

I do not, nor have I ever, said or believed that God hates homosexuals (or anyone else). I said that some of His followers believe that. I believe intolerance comes from fear, and these folks are genuinely scared. When I said “Twitter that Michelle Shocked says “God hates faggots,” I was predicting the absurd way my description of, my apology for, the intolerant would no doubt be misinterpreted. The show was all music, and the audience tweets said they enjoyed it. The commentary came about ten minutes later, in the encore.”

“I was predicting the absurd way my description of, my apology for, the intolerant would no doubt be misinterpreted.”

Are you buying this? Sounds like some backpedaling horseshit to me.

Listen. Shocked’s fans seem heartbroken and furious as they confront their falling star.

Michelle Shocked committed career suicide last night at a club appearance in San Francisco. The “Texas troubadour” displayed some red state intolerance when she announced from the stage that “God hates fags.” Apparently the former skateboard punk wasn’t kidding.

Michelle Shocked, known for living up to her surname, cleared out San Francisco club Yoshi’s last night, and shut down the venue, after she went on an anti-gay tirade, which she summed up by saying, ”You can go on Twitter and say ‘Michelle Shocked says God hates fags.’”

And they did.
Yes, according to folks who were there – and Twitter – she really did say this – in San Francisco of all places!

“She said she lives in fear that the world will be destroyed if gays are allowed to marry,” tweeted one audience member.

A visit to Shocked’s website indicates she’s on a West Coast tour, which includes Portland and Seattle. I’m betting ticket holders will be asking for refunds. I fucking hope so.

I tried calling Shocked’s representative, Cary Baker, but got his voice mail. If you’d like to let him and Shocked know what you think, give him a call. His number is on Shocked’s website.

Update: Cary Baker has addressed the issue: “I have not worked with Michelle Shocked in four years,” he said via email. Told that he’s still listed on her website, Baker said “I am aware of that and I have asked her to change it immediately. A horrible comment and the last thing I need after a sleepless week at SXSW.”

Shocked’s Wikipedia entry has been updated to to reflect current events. Check it out here.